Monday, 3 August 2015

There is a population of Stretch spiders Tetragnatha sp., on the wildlife garden. On Saturday I popped in with my youngest daughter and there was an adult female by the pond, sitting in the centre of her web, which was almost horizontal, about 20 cm from the surface of the water. She noticed the disturbance and retreated to one end of her web. Fortunately still exposing her underside so I could photograph the areas that make it possible to identify the species: the sternum with a paler centre and the epigyne or genital opening. Matt Prince and Dr Richard Pearce on Twitter confirmed her ID as Tetragnatha extensa, a species likely to be associated to water.

About BugBlog

You don't have to travel far to marvel about the natural world. Extraordinary animals with fascinating behaviours live around us in our homes, gardens and cities. This blog is a venue in which I showcase research or curious facts or observations on insects and other invertebrates I come across, mostly in and around my garden in the UK.

About Me

I am a biologist interested in Evolution, Behaviour and Ecology based in Hull (U.K.). I like to use photography to document animal behaviour. I have been hooked on Natural History since I was a kid. My research focus on invertebrates, especially those dispersing passively, and have included rotifers, Artemia and tadpole shrimp (Triops). I also have an obsessive interest of all topics related to human evolution and apes and I am a birdwatcher.

Photographs and text in Bugblog

All photographs and text in Bugblog unless otherwise stated are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. You are welcome to use them for private, educational or other non-commercial use, provided you acknowledge their source (a link to Bugblog or my name will do). Although not necessary, I appreciate if you let me know you are going to use them.